Financial support and messages of solidarity have already streamed in from other branches of the mineworkers union, and from other organized workers. Workers can build on this support, and go a step further by extending solidarity outside the United Kingdom.

The bosses at UK Coal are leading the charge in extending the workweek and driving down miners' wages. For the ruling class, this strike is a test to see how far they can push in their efforts to further drive down the working conditions of miners throughout the country. Other miners are following this fight closely. The determination of the UK Coal workers to win encourages other workers to fight back.

This strike takes place in the midst of deepening resistance in Britain. Hundreds of miners marched to defend their jobs Yorkshire on August 13. In April, mineworkers and their union scored a victory when women who work in the mine canteen and as cleaners won the right to wages comparable to other surface workers who are men.

Auto parts workers at Friction Dynamics are in their fifth month of a strike and lockout in Canaerfon, Wales. Last January, 10,000 auto workers joined union brothers and sisters across Europe to protest plant closings by the auto giants. Farmers, facing the worst crisis since the 1930s, have carried out a series of actions over the last year demanding financial relief. This past summer, Asian youth in Oldham and Bradford took to the streets to protest racist attacks. The Irish struggle for independence continues to dog the rulers of the United Kingdom.

The capitalists who own the factories, mines, and mills never pause in their efforts to pit working people against each other, especially workers from different countries. They speak about cheap imports or "low productivity" at home to try to wrest more concessions from our unions. In the United States, thousands of miners are waging struggles against the bosses' assaults on safety, health care, pension benefits, and wages. There are growing opportunities for mineworkers across the Atlantic to offer support against a common enemy and common conditions.

As the rulers in the United States, Britain, and other imperialist countries prepare for war, workers will come under growing pressure to refrain from striking against attacks on our wages and conditions by the employers. Under the guise of "pulling together as a nation," the ruling class will try to obfuscate the irreconcilable class differences between the capitalists and exploited labor. Strikes like the one at UK Coal take on added importance in face of the impending imperialist war. This places added importance on all workers to offer support and weigh in on the side of the mineworkers.
 
 
Related article:
Coal miners' strike wins support in United Kingdom  
 
 
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